Adapter for coupling liquid lines with anti-pullout seal means



May 21, 1957 G. GRAFF 2,793,056 ADAPTER FOR COUPLING LIQ D LINES WITH ANTI-PULLOUT SEA EANS led Aug. 3, 1953 ATTORNEYS States Patent Oflice 2,793,056 Patented May 21, 1957 ADAPTER FOR COUPLING LIQUID LINES WITH ANTI-PULLOUT SEAL MEANS George Gralf, Toledo, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Hoover Ball & Bearing Company, Ann Arbor, Mich a corporation of Michigan Application August 3, 1955, Serial No. 526,258 1 Claim. (Cl. 285-8) This invention relates to an adapter for coupling liquid lines and, more particularly, to an adapter which will be specifically illustrated in its use for mounting a selfcontained dishwashing device on a nipple or tubular, open-ended pipe such as that which normally mounts the faucet of a domestic sink fixture. 1

In the copending application of Graif, Kinker and Owen Serial No. 526,264 there is disclosed a dishwashing apparatus consisting of a tank for a supply of detergent, a diverter controlled water line leading to a handbrush unit and means at the handbrush unit for selectively feeding detergent into the water line at the will of the user. The unit is self-contained, i. e., it may be mounted on any conventional, domestic, kitchen faucet unit of the type which employs separate hot and cold water faucets, a manifold and a single spout, usually of the swing type. The dishwasher is mounted on the faucet unit by removing the swing spout and mounting the dishwasher in its place.

The mentioned application discloses the details of the dishwasher and also illustrates an adapter by which the input water line of the dishwasher is quickly and easily mounted on and connected to the nipple or tube in which the swing spout normally is mounted.

The present application is concerned with the adapter mounting means itself, and has for its principal object the provision of a hollow adapter and mounting plug which can be locked in place in the open end of a tube or pipe and which, in turn, serves as a mounting means upon which a liquid line or pipe can be mechanically supported and also connected to the tube or pipe in which the adapter is mounted, with a liquid tight joint.

The foregoing and more specific objects and advanta'ges of an adapter embodying the invention will be bet ter understood from the specification below and from the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a dishwashing device mounted upon a conventional domestic kitchen sink fixture by means of an adapter embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing an adapter embodying the invention as utilized for making both a mechanical and a liquid connection between open ended liquid lines; the parts being shown in fully locked position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to a portion of Fig. 2 but showing certain parts in their position just prior to final assembly;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detailed view in perspective of a thrust absorbing element utilized on an adapter embodying the invention.

A dishwasher of the type described in detail in the mentioned copending application is generally illustrated in Fig. 1 by the reference number 10. The dishwasher comprises, among other parts, a housing 11 in which is 2 located a detergent tank (not shown) and connection for water lines. The dishwasher has a spout fragmentarily shown at 12 and a diverter valve controlled by a knob 13 which diverts water between the spout 12 and the water lines interior of the housing 11 that lead to a flexible water line 14. The flexible water line 14 is connected to a handbrush unit (not shown). When the user wishes water to flow through the handbrush unit she diverts it by means of the valve knob 13 to the water line 14 and, as desired, may feed both water and detergent through the handbrush, by means of the controls provided.

Insofar as the instant invention comprising the adapter and mounting means is concerned, the dishwasher briefly described above and shown and described in more detail in the copending application, is merely illustrative of devices which may be connected both from a mechanical and a liquid flow standpoint to an open-ended liquid line by the adapter means embodying the invention.

As illustrative of an open liquid line to which it may be desired to connect some other device, the drawings show a tubular nipple or spout mounting 15, which forms a part of a conventional domestic sink fixture 16. The nipple 15 usually is formed from east brass or similar material which is relativelysoft and to which it is somewhat difiicult to make other than threaded connections. Because of the great variety of bores and wall thicknesses of such nipples on difierent conventional kitchen fixtures, it is diflicult to so design a device to be mounted on such nipples that the device will fit and thus can be connected both from the liquid and mechanical standpoin'ts. To facilitate such connection to nipples having diiferent diameters and wall thicknesses an adapter embodying the invention and generally indicatedat 17 is highly effective.

The adapter 17 has a main tubular body 18 threaded throughout its exterior surface and also threaded on its inner surface. At the top of the body 18 it is flatted, as at 19, on two sides to permit a wrench to grip the upper portion of the body 18 in order to hold the body 18 against rotation as will later be explained.

Near the lower end of the body 18 there are located a plurality of radially extending, oval openings 20 in each of which is positioned :an oval dog 21 having a beveled recessed inner end 22 and generally circumferentially extending teeth 23 on its outer end.

A hollow stem 24 is threaded downwardly into the upper end of the body 18. The stem 24 has a conical nose 25 which bears against the tapered ends 22 of the dogs 21. At the upper end of the bore of the stem 24 there is a socket 26 for the reception of a wrench of the Allen type.

The first step of assembling an adapter of the invention in the nipple 15 is to select a set of dogs 21 having a suitable radial length so that when the stem 24 is threaded downwardly they will be thrust outwardly and their teeth 23 will frictionally engage or bite into the inner wall of the nipple 15. The dogs 21 (three being shown in the drawings) are inserted in their respective openings 2% and the stem 24 threaded downwardly through the body 18 until its tapered end 24 engages the dogs 21 lightly. The assemblage is then thrust downwardly into the open end of the nipple 15 a distance such that a substantial length of the body 18 protrudes above and beyond the end of the nipple 15. A thin open ended wrench is then placed over the flats 19 on the body 18 and the Allen wrench inserted into the socket 26. By rotating the stem 24 relative to the body 18 it is threaded downwardly therein and its bevelled end 25 forces the dog 21 radially outward until their teeth 23 bite into the inner surface of the nipple 15 (see Fig. 4 particularly).

Frictional engagement having been established between the dogs and the tube or nipple 15, a thrust collar 27 is then threaded downwardly on the exterior of the body 18 to a level just below the upper end of the nipple 15. The thrust collar 27 is shown in this position in Fig. 3. A sealing washer 28 is then dropped over the body 18 and rests upon the upper end of the nipple 15. A flanged clamping nut 29 (see also Fig. 1) is then threaded downwardly on the exterior of the upper end of the body 18 and tightened downwardly against the washer 28, clamping the washer 28 tightly against the upper end of the nipple 15.

The action of threading the nut 29 onto the body 18 draws them together and pulls the body 18 of the adapter 17 upwardly out of the nipple 15 because the nut 29 is held up by the end of the nipple 15. This would tear the teeth 23 of the dogs 21 out of the relatively soft metal of the nipple 15 were it not for the thrust collar 27. The thrust collar 27 is so positioned that when the adapter 17 is pulled upwardly by the nut 29, the thrust collar 27 comes up against the undersurface of the washer 28 as shown in Fig. 2. Continued torque on the nut 29 squeezes the washer 28 tightly against the upper end of the nipple 15 making a liquid tight joint, but the thrust on the body 18 is absorbed by the thrust collar 27 so that the teeth 21 are not torn loose from the inner surface of the nipple 15.

The thrust collar 27 preferably is provided with notches or similar serrations 30 both to facilitate threading the collar 27 on the body 18 and to bite into the undersurface of the washer 28 and prevent rotation of the collar 27.

After the adapter 17 has been locked in place in the nipple 15 and the locking nut 29 tightened as described above, the device to be coupled to the nipple 15 is mounted thereon by a coupling nut 31 which tightly clamps a spherical ended bushing 32 against the upper end of the flanged clamping nut 29 with the spherical end of the bushing 32 tightly seated in a conical seat 33 at the upper edge of the bore in the nut 29.

The assembly is thus mechanically mounted by means of the adapter to the nipple 15 and liquid line coupled thereto with the joints sealed by the Washer 28 and the conventional coupling nut 31.

I claim:

An adapter for coupling a liquid line to an open ended tube, said adapter comprising a tubular body threaded both interiorly and exteriorly, said body having a plurality of radial openings through its Wall near one end thereof, a toothed dog radially slidable in each of said openings into frictional engagement with the interior of said tube, a tubular stem exteriorly threaded to mesh with the inner thread on said body and having one of its ends shaped for engagement with'the inner ends of said dogs, whereby threading said stern into said body thrusts said dogs radially outwardly and engages the outer ends thereof with the inner wall of said open ended tube, a flanged clamping nut adapted to be threaded on the exterior of said body with its flange bearing on the end of said open ended tube, and a thrust collar threaded on the exterior of said body at a point just inside the end of said open ended tube and engageable with the underside of said clamping nut for absorbing thrust on said body and preventing axial movement of said body when said nut is turned onto said body a distance suflicient to clamp against the end of said tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,188,489 Rhea June 27, 1916 1,926,798 Baumback Sept. 12, 1933 2,248,238 Hooper July 8, 1941 

